Evidence of longer life; a cohort of 39 labrador retrievers

Effects of a physical exercise programme on bodyweight, body condition score and chest, abdominal and thigh circumferences in dogs

BACKGROUND

Research on the effects of physical exercise on canine body composition is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a physical exercise programme on bodyweight, body condition score (BCS) and chest, abdominal and thigh circumferences in dogs. Twenty-one healthy dogs of different breeds exercised together with their owners during an eight-week programme consisting of jogging and strength exercises. Standardised measurements were performed in triplicates with a measuring tape on standing dogs. Chest circumference was measured at three anatomical locations, abdomen at two and thigh at one. Data on bodyweight, BCS (9-point scale) and circumferences were analysed with mixed model repeated measures analyses to evaluate changes after the programme and effects of target distance.

RESULTS

Seven dog owners choose a target distance of 2 km and 14 owners choose 5-10 km. Mean BCS decreased (P = 0.007) after the programme (5.1 ± 0.9 vs. 4.7 ± 0.6) but there was no effect of target distance. Almost all chest and abdominal circumference measurements decreased (P ≤ 0.007) with the 2 km group driving the reduction in chest circumference and the 5-10 km group driving the reduction in abdominal circumference. In contrast, thigh circumference (28.8 ± 0.4 vs. 30.2 ± 0.4) increased (P = 0.007) while bodyweight was maintained. There were positive correlations between BCS and abdominal/chest ratios before and after the programme (Pearson correlation; R square ≤ 0.43, P ≤ 0.0012) but the mean ratio remained constant.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicated a redistribution between total body fat and muscle mass in body composition of normal weight to slightly overweight dogs after the physical exercise programme. The use of bodyweight alone was not a reliable evaluation method to complement the BCS assessment. However, repeated measurements of chest, abdominal and thigh circumference might aid in the assessment of body composition in dogs performing physical exercise. Further research should include a control group and objective evaluations of total body fat and lean mass, in order to investigate the effectiveness of physical exercise as a freestanding method for decreasing BCS and increasing muscle mass in overweight dogs.

Dog Owners' Perceptions of Canine Body Composition and Effect of Standardized Education for Dog Owners on Body Condition Assessment of Their Own Dogs

Overweight in dogs is an increasing problem, with a prevalence of about 30% in Sweden. To prevent the negative health effects of overweight, it is important to identify and treat canine overweight. Dog owners are essential for such interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate dog owners' perceptions of various canine body compositions via indirect assessment based on photos and direct assessment of their own dogs. A second aim was to evaluate the effect of a standardized practical education for dog owners on body condition score (BCS) assessment of their own dogs. The 9-point BCS scale was used, and two study samples were recruited: one was a survey sample where 564 dog owners assessed the BCS of dogs using photos, and one sample was a separate clinical sample where 82 dogs were assessed by their owners and by veterinary health care personnel. The initial BCS assessment by the dog owners in the clinical sample (mean ± SD) was significantly lower (4.6 ± 1.0) than the BCS assessed by the veterinary health care personnel (5.2 ± 1.1), but the owners improved significantly after receiving the standardized education (5.1 ± 1.0) (both p < 0.0001) and performed as accurately as the veterinary health care personnel (p = 0.99). The results should be verified in the broader dog owner population based on a randomized selection of participants. "Weight blindness", defined here as an underassessment of normal-weight dogs and an inability to identify overweight dogs, is likely to have a negative impact on canine overweight prevalence. Deeper knowledge about dog owners' perceptions can inform the development of new strategies to help prevent and manage canine overweight, whereof standardized practical education on BCS assessment is shown here to be one example.

Composition and short-term stability of gut microbiota in lean and spontaneously overweight healthy Labrador retriever dogs

Background

The gut microbiota and its metabolic end-products act in close collaboration with the nutrient metabolism of the animal. A relationship between excess adiposity and alterations in gut microbiota composition has been identified in humans and rodents, but data are scarce for overweight dogs. This study compared composition and temporal variations of gut microbiota in healthy lean and spontaneously overweight dogs. The analysis was based on three individual fresh faeces samples from each dog during a 10-day period. Twenty-seven healthy and intact male Labrador retriever dogs were included, 12 of which were classified as lean (body condition score (BCS) 4–5 on a 9-point scale) and 15 as overweight (BCS 6–8). Gut microbiota was analysed by Illumina sequencing of the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene.

Results

Lean and overweight groups of dogs were not separated by principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), analysis of similarity (one-way ANOSIM, P = 0.99) or species indicator analysis (IndVal) using operational taxonomic units (OTU) data. Gut microbial taxa at phylum, family or genus level did not differ between lean and overweight dogs in mixed-model repeated measures analyses. Short-term stability, evaluated by similarity index, did not differ between lean and overweight dogs over the 10-day period. Pooled Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio was 3.1 ± 3.7 in overweight dogs and 2.1 ± 1.2 in lean dogs (P = 0.83). Individual dogs, irrespective of body condition (lean or overweight), displayed variation in mean alpha diversity (Chao-1 index range 122–245, Shannon index range 2.6–3.6) and mean similarity index (range 44–85%).

Conclusions

Healthy lean and spontaneously overweight Labrador retriever dogs had comparable gut microbiota composition and short-term stability over a 10-day sampling period. There were no alterations in microbial diversity or in relative abundance of specific taxa at phylum, family or genus level in overweight compared to lean dogs. Our findings suggest that there are few detectable differences in gut microbiota composition between healthy spontaneously overweight and lean dogs by the current method. Future application of metagenomic or metabolomic techniques could be used to investigate microbial genes or microbial end-products that may differ even when microbiota compositional analyses fail to detect a significant difference between lean and overweight dogs.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13028-022-00628-z.

Canine Geriatric Rehabilitation: Considerations and Strategies for Assessment, Functional Scoring, and Follow Up

Geriatric animals account for half of the pet population in the United States with their numbers increasing annually. Furthermore, a significant percentage of veterinary patients with movement limitations could be grossly categorized as geriatric and living within the end stage of their predicted lifespans. Because mobility is correlated to quality of life and time to death in aging dogs, a major goal in optimizing canine geriatric health is to improve functional movement. Within the geriatric population, identifying disabilities that affect daily living and quality of life may be used by the rehabilitation practitioner to provide stronger prognoses, treatment goals, and outcome measures. Examples of such means are described within this review. In human medicine, the concept of “optimal aging”, or “healthy aging”, has emerged in which inevitable detrimental age-related changes can be minimized or avoided at various levels of physical, mental, emotional, and social health. Both environment and genetics may influence aging. Identifying and improving environmental variables we can control remain a key component in optimizing aging. Furthermore, diagnosing and treating age related comorbidities common to older populations allows for improved quality of life and is often directly or indirectly affecting mobility. Obesity, sarcopenia, and a sedentary lifestyle are a trifecta of age-related morbidity common to both people and dogs. Healthy lifestyle choices including good nutrition and targeted exercise play key roles in reducing this morbidity and improving aging. Disablement models act as essential tools for creating more effective physiotherapy plans in an effort to counter dysfunction and disability. Within these models, functional testing represents a standard and validated means of scoring human geriatric function as well as monitoring response to therapy. Because of the great need in dogs, this review aims to provide a reasonable and testable standardized framework for canine functional scoring. We believe a complete assessment of canine geriatric patients should comprise of identifying environmental variables contributing to health status; diagnosing comorbidities related to disease and aging; and characterizing disability with standardized methods. Only through this process can we construct a comprehensive, reasonable, and targeted rehabilitation plan with appropriate follow up aimed at healthy aging.

Disorder predispositions and protections of Labrador Retrievers in the UK

The Labrador Retriever is one of the most popular dog breeds worldwide, therefore it is important to have reliable evidence on the general health issues of the breed. Using anonymised veterinary clinical data from the VetCompass Programme, this study aimed to explore the relative risk to common disorders in the Labrador Retriever. The clinical records of a random sample of dogs were reviewed to extract the most definitive diagnoses for all disorders recorded during 2016. A list of disorders was generated, including the 30 most common disorders in Labrador Retrievers and the 30 most common disorders in non-Labrador Retrievers. Multivariable logistic regression was used to report the odds of each of these disorders in 1462 (6.6%) Labrador Retrievers compared with 20,786 (93.4%) non-Labrador Retrievers. At a specific-level of diagnostic precision, after accounting for confounding, Labrador Retrievers had significantly increased odds of 12/35 (34.3%) disorders compared to non-Labrador Retrievers; osteoarthritis (OR 2.83) had the highest odds. Conversely, Labrador Retrievers had reduced odds of 7/35 (20.0%) disorders; patellar luxation (OR 0.18) had the lowest odds. This study provides useful information about breed-specific disorder predispositions and protections, which future research could evaluate further to produce definitive guidance for Labrador Retriever breeders and owners.

Overweight in Swedish show dogs-prevalence and association with performance in competition

Background

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing in companion dogs, but little is known of these conditions in show dogs. This study assessed body condition score (BCS) of show dogs of six selected popular breeds at a major Swedish dog show event and examined the association between BCS and performance in competition.

Results

At one of Sweden’s largest dog shows, BCS of 120 dogs of six different breeds was assessed by trained animal healthcare personnel, using a 9-point BCS scale with conditional cut-off for overweight set to BCS ≥ 6. Prevalence of overweight in the cohort was 32% but all overweight dogs except one displayed only slight overweight (BCS 6) and no dog was assessed as obese (BCS 8–9). Prevalence of overweight differed significantly between breeds (P < 0.0001) with Labrador retrievers, Golden retrievers and French bulldogs showing the highest mean BCS (5.6–5.7) and highest prevalence of overweight (50–67%). Lean and overweight dogs received awards and higher show awards (certificates) to the same extent, and no significant association between slight overweight and performance in competition was found.

Conclusions

Prevalence of overweight in Swedish show dogs was relatively high and in the same range as in the Swedish dog population as a whole. Dog owners, breeders and judges should be made aware of canine obesity problems and trained in BCS assessment, to better prevent canine overweight and associated health risks. This is particularly important for retriever and brachycephalic breeds, which showed high prevalence of slight overweight and have breed-specific health problems exacerbated by overweight. Owners and breeders of traditionally sturdy dog breeds should be informed that overweight dogs do not outperform lean dogs in competition.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13028-021-00582-2.

Body weight at 10 years of age and change in body composition between 8 and 10 years of age were related to survival in a longitudinal study of 39 Labrador retriever dogs

BACKGROUND

Overweight and obesity have been adversely associated with longevity in dogs but there is scarce knowledge on the relation between body composition and lifespan. We aimed to investigate the effects of body composition, and within-dog changes over time, on survival in adult Labradors using a prospective cohort study design. The dogs had a median age of 6.5 years at study start and were kept in similar housing and management conditions throughout. The effects of the various predictors, including the effect of individual monthly-recorded change in body weight as a time varying covariate, were evaluated using survival analysis.

RESULTS

All dogs were followed to end-of-life; median age at end-of-life was 14.0 years. Body composition was measured annually with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometer (DEXA) scans between 6.2 and 17.0  years. All 39 dogs had DEXA recorded at 8, 9 and 10 years of age. During the study the mean (± SD) percent of fat (PF) and lean mass (PL) was 32.8 (± 5.6) and 64.2 (± 5.5) %, respectively, with a mean lean:fat ratio (LFR) of 2.1 (± 0.6); body weight (BW) varied from 17.5 to 44.0 kg with a mean BW change of 9.9 kg (± 3.0). There was increased hazard of dying for every kg increase in BW at 10 years of age; for each additional kg of BW at 10 years, dogs had a 19% higher hazard (HR = 1.19, P = 0.004). For the change in both lean mass (LM) and LFR variables, it was protective to have a higher lean and/or lower fat mass (FM) at 10 years of age compared to 8 years of age, although the HR for change in LM was very close to 1.0. For age at study start, older dogs had an increased hazard. There was no observed effect for the potential confounders sex, coat colour and height at shoulders, or of the time-varying covariate.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that even rather late-life control efforts on body weight and the relationship between lean and fat mass may influence survival in dogs. Such "windows of opportunity" can be used to develop healthcare strategies that would help promote an increased healthspan in dogs.

Quantification of the health-status of the Dutch Labrador retriever population

Health issues in purebred dogs are currently considered one of the biggest problems in companion animal health. The Labrador retriever (LR) is one of the most popular dog breeds. The aim of this study was to quantify LR breed health in comparison with mixed-breed dogs (MB), by using four different data sources: a veterinary practice management system (appr. 35,000 unique individuals LR + MB), data from two animal insurance companies (appr. 15,500 and 4500 individuals respectively), and a histopathological laboratory (appr. 4000 individuals). After extensive recoding of the data, health parameters utilised to quantify breed health were longevity, frequency of practice visits and insurance expense claims, and diagnostic codes. A Kaplan-Meier univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazard model were used to evaluate longevity. A negative binomial model was used to analyse the frequency of visits, claims, and diagnostic codes in both sets of insurance data. Logistic regression was used to look into the categorical diagnostic codes in the laboratory data. The median lifespan of the LR was similar (12 years, practice data) or longer (10 versus 8 years, insurance data) than MB for individuals with a known birth and death date. When including censored individuals, survival time in the LR was comparable to MB individuals up to 10 years of age. Above 10 years of age, the LR lived a similar length as MB with a medium to large body size, but shorter than all MB. The LR visited the veterinary practice more often (risk ratio (RR) 1.2, 95% confidence interval 1.2-1.3), and also showed a higher frequency of insurance expense claims (RR 2.2 (2.1-2.3) and RR 1.2 (1.1-1.3) respectively for the two insurance data sets). The largest difference in organ systems between the LR and MB in insurance claims was related to ears (RR 5.3 (4.8-5.8) and RR 2.6 (2.3-3.1)), followed by airways (RR 2.6 (2.4-2.8)), tendons & muscles (RR 2.4 (2.2-2.6) and RR 1.4 (1.1-1.7)), and joints (RR 1.7 (1.3-2.1)), without a difference in median age at diagnosis. The data from the histopathological laboratory suggested a higher disease burden related to oncology for the LR compared to MB (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0-1.3). Oncological diagnoses were made at a younger age in the LR (8.8 versus 9.4 years). The disease burden was significantly higher for the LR than MB, but these results may suffer from substantial bias such as selection bias towards the database, and different behaviour of LR versus MB owners with regards to veterinary care. In the future, longer term population data can corroborate these results.

Longevity: Lesson from Model Organisms

Research on longevity and healthy aging promises to increase our lifespan and decrease the burden of degenerative diseases with important social and economic effects. Many aging theories have been proposed, and important aging pathways have been discovered. Model organisms have had a crucial role in this process because of their short lifespan, cheap maintenance, and manipulation possibilities. Yeasts, worms, fruit flies, or mammalian models such as mice, monkeys, and recently, dogs, have helped shed light on aging processes. Genes and molecular mechanisms that were found to be critical in simple eukaryotic cells and species have been confirmed in humans mainly by the functional analysis of mammalian orthologues. Here, we review conserved aging mechanisms discovered in different model systems that are implicated in human longevity as well and that could be the target of anti-aging interventions in human.

Indication of metabolic inflexibility to food intake in spontaneously overweight Labrador Retriever dogs

Background

Obesity in dogs is an increasing problem associated with morbidity, shortened life span and poor life quality. Overweight dogs exhibit postprandial hyperlipidaemia, highlighting the need to identify potential dysregulations in lipid metabolism. This study investigated metabolites related to lipid metabolism (i.e. acylcarnitines and taurine) and phospholipids in a feed-challenge test and aimed to identify metabolic variations in spontaneously overweight dogs. Twenty-eight healthy male Labrador Retriever dogs were included, 12 of which were classified as lean (body condition score (BCS) 4–5 on a 9-point scale) and 16 as overweight (BCS 6–8). After overnight fasting (14–17 h), fasting blood samples were collected and dogs were fed a high-fat meal followed by postprandial blood sample collection hourly for 4 h. Liquid chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOFMS) was used to identify plasma metabolites and phospholipids. Multivariate models, mixed model repeated measures and linear regression analyses were used for data interpretation.

Results

In all dogs, propionylcarnitine, stearoylcarnitine and nine phospholipids increased in response to food intake, while vaccenylcarnitine decreased (P ≤ 0.005 for all). Overall, carnitine and acetylcarnitine signal areas in the feed-challenge test were lower in overweight dogs (P ≤ 0.004). Notably, fasting plasma acetylcarnitine was lower in overweight dogs than in lean dogs (P = 0.001) and it did not change in response to feeding. The latter finding was in contrast to the decreased acetylcarnitine signal area found in lean dogs at one hour postprandially (P < 0.0001). One fasting phosphatidylcholine (PCaa C38:4) was higher in prominently overweight dogs (BCS > 6) than in lean dogs (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

Plasma carnitine status was overall lower in spontaneously overweight dogs than in lean dogs in this cohort of healthy Labrador Retriever dogs, indicating a potential carnitine insufficiency in the overweight group. The acetylcarnitine response in overweight dogs indicated decreased fatty acid oxidation at fasting and metabolic inflexibility to food intake. Further studies on metabolic inflexibility and its potential role in the metabolism of overweight dogs are warranted.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12917-019-1845-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.